Eisenhower Family Christmas Celebrations

The Eisenhower's fireplace and mantle in their Gettysburg home, decorated for the Christmas season. This image was used in one of their 1966 Christmas Cards.

Eisenhower National Historic Site Photo

For many families the holiday season is a time of celebration and homecoming. The Eisenhowers were no different. They saw the holidays as a chance to celebrate the things they loved most. For Mamie Eisenhower decorating her home and welcoming friends and family was something in which she took true delight. Mamie celebrated all holidays, but Christmas was a time to really show off.

While the Eisenhowers were in the White House, Mamie had the ideal setting to showcase her love of the holiday. In 1959 she brought twenty-six Christmas trees to the White House ranging in size from a tabletop tree to an eighteen-foot pine tree housed in the East Room. Her love of whimsy was showcased by her placing Santa Claus figurines next to the busts of famous Americans like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

The presidential couple continued important traditions like hosting a Christmas party for White House staff and lighting the National Christmas Tree. Normally these events would occur in Washington D.C. but in 1955 while he was recovering from his first heart attack, the President lit the tree remotely from his Gettysburg farm on December 18th. In 1958 the President even delivered a Christmas message from space using the satellite SCORE. The recording ended with “through this unique means I convey to you and to all mankind America’s wish for peace on earth and good will toward men everywhere.” The First Family also sent out Christmas Cards annually, many of them featuring artwork done by the President himself.

During the White House years, the Eisenhowers first spent Christmas in Augusta, Georgia, but after 1955 they spent their remaining Christmases as President and First Lady at the White House. When the Eisenhowers retired, their Christmas traditions followed them to Gettysburg. Their daughter-in-law Barbara recalled that while most of the retirement years saw the Eisenhowers at their vacation home in California, there were at least one or two Christmases in Gettysburg.

There was typically a pattern to an Eisenhower family Christmas. The festivities began on Christmas Eve when the family would attend the local presbyterian church. The next morning Ike and Mamie would open presents with their son John, his wife, Barbara, and their four grandchildren. After the gift giving, the family would have a nice afternoon meal and end the day with socializing and singing Christmas carols. President Eisenhower’s favorite carols included Silent Night, Adeste Fidelis and the First Noel.

An original shadowbox Christmas decoration which the Eisenhowers had on display in their home during the Christmas season.

Eisenhower National Historic Site Photo

The Eisenhower home was always decorated for Christmas. John and Delores Moaney usually did most of the decorating around the Eisenhower home, but the family would help decorate the tree. The Christmas tree would traditionally be place in front of the fireplace in the living room. The rest of the house would be decorated in very traditional Christmas décor including poinsettias, mistletoe, and candles.

Today the site’s collection houses three of the Eisenhower’s original Christmas decorations. The Eisehowers were gifted a Father Christmas sculpture that was normally placed in various locations in their living room. Their granddaughter Susan created a small tile box with a hand drawn Christmas tree on it that she gave to her grandparents. The last object was discovered by park staff after Mamie had passed. It was a handmade shadow box found in storage. While the creator of this decoration is unknown, they were familiar enough with the family to place appropriate tiny gifts for each of the family members under a decorated tree.

Duration:

3 minutes, 45 seconds

Join Park Ranger Alyce Evans for a special Christmas tour of the Eisenhower home. Christmas was a very important time for Mamie Eisenhower and the park is fortunate to have three original decorations and Mamie's favorite Christmas china for the dining room table.